Chapter 86
Chapter Eighty-Six
Mal
What goes around, cums around
Three weeks after my initiation, I wake up on a Wednesday morning before the baby and realize Todd’s already left for work. And I never even heard him get up and get dressed.
I lucked out in the considerate hubby department, too.
And he left me a full pot of coffee.
Smiling, I pour myself a cup and manage to drink nearly half of it before Kylen wakes up and starts fussing. I carry my mug down to her room and open the door, already smiling when I walk over to her crib because of the adorable noises she’s making.
Goddess, I love being a father!
“Hey there, princess.” She gives me gummy smiles and tries to pull her feet into her mouth. I change her and carry her on my hip back to the kitchen with my almost empty mug in my hand.
Easing her into her highchair, I kiss the top of her gorgeous little head.
I really will want to kill anyone who wants to date her.
“What’s for breakfast this morning, hmm?” I mix her a bowl of rice cereal and dish out portions of jarred applesauce and peaches. Those are her favorites lately. I’m still trying to get used to the fact that she doesn’t need to nurse anymore.
No, not complaining about it. Dr. Williams assures me her development is progressing normally for a shifter baby’s timeline, but she refuses to hypothesize if she can shift or what she would shift into if she does.
Maybe I need to call Alizée and ask her to take a peek.
With every day that passes, my curiosity grows.
The answer to the question doesn’t matter, obviously.
But it’d be nice not to have to worry about her suddenly shifting during a trip to the grocery store.
And to raise her without any accidental expectations about shifting just for her to feel disappointed later that she can’t.
After we finish our breakfast—I opt for oatmeal because my stomach feels a little odd this morning—I take her out to the living room and lay her down on her play blanket.
She’s already rolling over without any help and starting to commando crawl.
Meaning the baby-proofing projects Todd hasn’t finished need to be completed ASAP.
The biggies are done, like cabinet latches and safety plugs in all the outlets, but there are still some corners I want him to pad as well as add or reinforce safety straps on furniture that can tip.
I spend a while playing with her, showing her the activity mat Mom made for her, reading to her, and when she starts yawning, so do I. I opt to return her to her crib when she falls asleep, and I grab the baby monitor speaker, carrying it into our bedroom.
In the bathroom, I splash water on my face and realize my cheeks feel warm.
Jeez, just what I need, to get sick.
Which would be weird, because other than being mildly hungover a couple of times, I don’t think I’ve ever been sick, other than a few allergy attacks that turned into mild sinus infections, every time happening after a pack run.
Not like I could complain to my father and beg out of the runs, either. What, show weakness? That was forbidden.
When I catch sight of myself in the mirror I lean in, now a little weirded out. My pupils are…
Huge.
“What the fuck?” I lean in closer, studying them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this happen to me before. Not that I can remember.
I make sure the baby monitor is turned up to full volume and stretch out in bed, on top of the sheets, because my skin feels too tight. Not itchy, but like I really want to shift and run.
I need a nap.
Except I lie there, tossing and turning, exhausted but unable to go to sleep. The thought of jerking off is appealing, but I refuse to bug Todd for permission to do that while he’s working.
Obviously, I could still do it and he wouldn’t be upset, but I just…
I wouldn’t feel right doing it. It’s a me thing.
After an hour, I give up and take a hot shower, hoping that’ll help. It does.
For about ten minutes.
Then the restless feeling cranks up. While I can’t go for a run, I fight the urge to pace around the house. Sitting at my desk in the den is also useless because I can’t focus enough brain cells at the same time to accomplish anything.
This is fucking ridiculous.
I need to get out of the house. I need to move around.
Checking the shopping list, I realize that might be the perfect answer. Once Kylen wakes up from her nap and finishes lunch, I get her ready and shoot Todd a text that we’re going shopping in case he wants to add anything to the list.
I head for the larger department store because I want more than just groceries. With the baby secure in her car seat carrier in the cart, I start walking the aisles, trying to rein in my frustration at people who are moving slower than I am.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. I want to snap at them. Including one cute guy I pass who’s a clueless human, but I bone up when I get a good look at his ass.
I blink. What the hell am I doing?
Yes, I enjoyed the hell out of myself at initiation.
It more than slaked my slutting needs to last me a while.
I’ve been thinking about asking Todd if he wants to invite any visitors to the fun room for us to play with, but he’s been so busy with the ranch expansions, and I’ve been swamped with catching up on paperwork that I keep forgetting to mention it.
Maybe I need a session in the fun room.
It’s been two days since we last did anything because we’ve both been busy, and adulting really sucks, right? He has no problems mentioning he’s horny, but that even he hasn’t been saying anything shows how crazy life’s been.
Regular life. Not people trying to kill us life.
I head to the baby section because I want to pick up some onesies for Kylen. That’s when I spot the display of strollers.
Especially catching my eye is a jogger stroller.
Oooh!
That’s exactly what I need. Two birds and all that bullshit. I can run on two legs and let the baby get some fresh air all at the same time. I’m certain I could order a better one online, and probably will, but this one is here in front of me, and I can take it home now.
Okay, so that’s sold.
I get all the other things I came for, including groceries, and then ask one of the clerks to help me with the stroller box so I can check out. They even load it in the SUV for me.
“Daddy’s going to introduce you to the woods, sweetheart,” I tell her as I fasten her carrier into the car seat base.
She smiles and blows me a raspberry, making me laugh.
This feels right, though. The perfect solution.
I want to run, and now I can take her with me, whereas I couldn’t run with her strapped to me in the kangaroo carrier for fear of jostling her too much.
Maybe once she’s older we can do that. I haven’t had much time to exercise lately, whereas I spent most of the previous year before meeting Todd biking or running, or otherwise doing lots of physical activity. Of course I’m getting restless. Duh.
Relieved, I eagerly head home. An hour later, the groceries are put away, I’ve changed into running clothes, and Kylen’s staring around from her new point of view in the assembled jogging stroller.
I gently bump it down the back steps and head toward the smoothest trail, which is actually a grassy track Todd runs the ATV and his truck along to check fence lines and access the farthest pastures.
The itchy, too-tight feeling is still there, but as I quickly pick up the pace into a blistering run, everything feels better. The world drops away, and a brief mental memory from the mating hunt blinks into my mind and out again as quickly as it arrived.
But it fucks up my concentration and I stumble, releasing the stroller handle as I roll tail-over-ears into a stand of palmetto bushes with the breath knocked out of me.
Panicking over the baby’s safety, I scramble to free myself, but I hear Kylen giggle. When I emerge from the bushes, shaky relief fills me that the stroller safely rolled to a stop a few feet away. She’s staring up at a squirrel on a branch about twenty feet overhead, reaching toward it.
“Fuck me,” I mutter, my pulse not hammering quite as much as my panic eases. I check her out, just to assure myself she’s okay, brush myself off, and set off again.
This time, at a slow jog that feels much more responsible under the circumstances but allows the mental chafing to return.
Especially feeling the sting on my knees where I scraped them when I crashed. The pain sends pleasant jolts straight to my cock, When we reach the clearing at the creek, I shake my head and walk over, sticking my entire head in the water and trying to sort myself out.
Something’s different. Something’s…wrong.
I sit up when I hear an approaching engine. One of the ranch’s ATVs comes into view, but it’s not Todd. Terry’s behind the wheel. When he rolls up and shuts the engine off, he looks concerned.
“You okay, Mal?”
I stand, stretching my neck from side to side. “Yeah. I needed a run, so I picked up a jogging stroller in town. Just having a Daddy-daughter run.”
He’s downwind from me. When his nose wrinkles I realize that with the sweat pouring off me I probably reek.
“But…are you okay?” he asks.
“What?” I look down at my scraped knees. “Yeah, I wasn’t paying attention and I tripped.” I do not want to admit why. “It’s fine. But hey, the stroller came to a stop and was sturdy, so, yay?”
He studies me for a moment and, frankly, it’s wigging me out. “Do you want me to get Todd? Or give you a lift back to the house?”
I lift a hand. “Nah, I’m okay. Seriously. Please don’t tell him I tripped. It’ll freak him out.” Not to mention I need to get moving again because that seems to be the only thing keeping that itchy feeling even remotely at bay. Like it’s a…need.
Resuming my jog, we pass him and I offer him another smile and a wave. A tingle at the base of my tail annoys me when I see him turn all the way around in his seat to watch me go.
What the hell? Creepy much?